Former President Bill Clinton and former First Lady, Secretary of State and U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton were among those speaking at a public memorial service remembering former Congressman Elliot Engel on the evening of May 17. The event took place at the Lovinger Theater on the campus of Herbert H. Lehman College in the Bronx.
Gov. Kathy Holchul, Rep. George Latimer, Rep. Jerold Nadler, and members of Engel’s family were among those joining with many others in recalling highlights of Engel’s career in public service.
Engle died on April 10 at age 79. He was born on Feb. 18, 1947, in the Bronx. He attended Bronx public schools, Lehman College and New York Law School. He was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1977 and served there through 1988. In November of 1988, he was elected to Congress, serving on Capitol Hill from 1989 until 2021. Engel lost a primary for the Democratic nomination to run for another term to Jamaal Bowman, who was elected in 2020 to the New York 16th Congressional District seat, covering parts of Westchester and the Bronx.
Engel was an outspoken liberal voice both in Washington and in his home district. He was often seen at events in Westchester, especially those that advocated liberal causes. Engel was one of the most consistently pro-Israel representatives on Capitol Hill.
Bill Clinton recalled that when he was president Engel was a steadfast ally.
“My whole campaign in 1992 was that we should stop demonizing each other and reach out across our common divide,” Clinton said. “He stood up and vouched for me. He made my life a lot easier when I was president. He proved that trickle down economics was not the best way to run a country and it was better to build from the bottom up and the middle out.”
Clinton recalled that Engel fought for the ban on assault weapons, limits on ammunition clips and the Brady Bill.
“He was a … hands on emotional congressman who kept the numbers is his head,” Clinton said. “He always knew what the score was. He proved he could be tough and really nice.”
Hillary Clinton said that Engel was “by my side when I announced my first campaign for Senate. He was with me in every campaign after. He was a very wise and steadfast advisor. He was someone you could always count on to be there.”
Hillary Clinton said that Engel always was fighting for the causes and people he believed in and represented.
“As we worked to pass the Violence Against Women Act in the 90s Elliot was there,” Clinton said. “When we worked to pass the Children’s Health Insurance Program Elliot was there. He understood that the work of government is in large part supposed to be about taking care of people, about giving people the chance to live up to their own potential, about trying to create an environment in which people feel respected and seen, in which their dignity is just accepted as the norm. It was about protecting the most vulnerable among us and making sure that everybody’s everybody’s voice would be heard.”
Hochul described Engel as “an extraordinary person who was called to public service for the right reasons. Politics has one purpose and that is to do good for others, to let them believed that government has a purpose and is looking out for them. I think about what he did around the world … his compassion for people all over the world he may never meet again.”
Latimer remembered Engel as a humble person and noted “there is not a lot of humble walking going on in Washington these days I’m afraid to say. That was Elliot Engel.”
Latimer said that many people expect elected officials to be arrogant and rapacious and doing insider trading and other bad things.
“Not Elliot Engel,” Latimer said. “We all knew Elliot was decent and honorable in all of his dealings.”
